1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to intelligent telecommunications networks.
2. Related Art and Other Considerations
Intelligent telecommunications networks have an architecture which offer new and various telecommunications services in a fast, flexible, and cost-effective way. The core of an intelligent telecommunications network includes both a Service Switching Point (SSP) and a Service Control Point (SCP). The Service Switching Point (SSP) is a switching system that can intercept telephone calls and query the Service Control Point (SCP). The Service Control Point (SCP) is a system containing service specific logic and data that, upon being queried by the SSP, returns instructions to the SSP regarding further treatment of the intercepted telephone call.
With the architecture of the SSP and SCP an intelligent telecommunications network (IN) can perform numerous services beyond typical call connection, such as call waiting and call forwarding, as basic examples. Different kinds of devices can be combined with an intelligent network in order to perform and control a predefined flow of operations.
Subscribers to telecommunications networks have long been able to transmit either voice or text messages over the network to a desired destination (i.e., a called party). Current intelligent networks provide a service for the called party of answering the call and permitting the calling party to record a voice message. Subscribers with computer capabilities are able to transmit digital textual messages to other computers over telecommunications networks.
What is lacking however, and an object of this invention, is method and apparatus for enabling a voice caller to provide a textual message to a called party.